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UK Government broadening powers - again

The UK Government is seeking to broaden its powers to tackle extremism (see, on this site, www.itsecurity.com/security.htm?s=6776). I doubt if anyone objects to the stated ...

The UK Government is seeking to broaden its powers to tackle extremism (see, on this site, www.itsecurity.com/security.htm?s=6776). I doubt if anyone objects to the stated intention. But I have strong concerns about the route. Nowhere in this announcement is there any involvement of the judiciary - indeed, the Government states explicitly: "Where the Home Secretary is personally applying these powers to exclude people before they come to the UK personally, there is no statutory right of appeal..."

Throughout this statement it is clear that it is the Government's opinion that counts: "express views which the Government considers...", and "what the Government considers...". This includes inclusion within "a full database of individuals around the world...", "running a website...".

Let us be quite clear: you cannot have a democracy where the Government both makes and interprets the law. The government should make laws - it is up to a separate and independent judiciary to interpret them. Where the Government both makes and interprets its own laws, the correct term is dictatorial government. Where power is concentrated within the Cabinet, that is cabinet dictatorship; where power is concentrated in the hands of a prime minister, that is simple dictatorship.

And when you combine these new diktats with the all the other technology-driven limits on liberty and free speech, where are we going? Yes, bring in proportional methods to curb extremism - but we must have judicial oversight.

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